Sound Of Cinema - 333. Marni Nixon

SOUND OF CINEMA - 333. MARNI NIXON (320kbs-m4a/134mb/58mins)
BBC Radio 3 broadcast: 11th December 2021

Matthew looks back on the career and recordings of soprano Marni Nixon, a "ghost singer" who provided the vocals for several leading actresses often without audiences being aware. With the release this week of Steven Spielberg's new version of 'West Side Story', Matthew considers the 1961 film in which Nixon provided the singing voice of Natalie Wood, without receiving a credit. She was also the singing voice of Deborah Kerr in 'The King and I' and 'An Affair to Remember', and of Audrey Hepburn in 'My Fair Lady'. And she filled in a few of Marilyn Monroe's notes on 'Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend' from 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes'. Although she was well known on the concert stage as a soprano, and even recorded works of Stravinsky conducted by the composer himself, she was largely unknown as a singer in films, and it was not until more recently that she was finally credited for her soundtrack recordings.

Nacio Herb Brown & Arthur Freed - Singin' In The Rain (1952) - Singin' In The Rain
Leonard Bernstein & Stephen Sondheim - West Side Story (1961) - I Feel Pretty
Leonard Bernstein & Stephen Sondheim - West Side Story (1961) - Maria
Leonard Bernstein & Stephen Sondheim - West Side Story (1961) - Quintet
Jule Styne & Leo Robin - Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) - Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend
Igor Stravinsky - Chamber Works (1956) - Two Poems Of Konstantin Bal'mont
Hugo Friedhofer - Joan Of Arc (1948) - Chorus Of Angels
Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein - The King And I (1956) - Getting To Know You
Hugo Friedhofer - An Affair To Remember (1957) - Night Club Affair
Hugo Friedhofer - Boy On A Dolphin (1957) - Nocturnal Sea
Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe - My Fair Lady (1964) - My Fair Lady Overture
Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe - My Fair Lady (1964) - Just You Wait
Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe - My Fair Lady (1964) - I Could Have Danced All Night
Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein - The Sound Of Music (1965) - Maria
Irwin Kostal - Mary Poppins (1964) - Jolly Holiday
Matthew Wilder & David Zippel - Mulan (1998) - Honor To Us All
Leonard Bernstein & Stephen Sondheim - West Side Story (2021) - Somewhere